The present invention is directed to the field of adapters, and is more specifically directed to a modular adapter for use in combination with a modular connector cable in connecting a video cassette recorder (VCR) to a television, a computer monitor, or other video equipment.
As shown in FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 1c, a television 200 generally is provided with a pair of 300 ohm antenna screw terminals 2a and 2b for receiving UHF input and both a 75 ohm female RF coaxial antenna terminal 4 and a pair of 300 ohm antenna screw terminals 6a and 6b for receiving VHF input. There are three basic kinds of hook-ups between a television and an antenna, which depend upon the kind of antenna used, as shown in FIGS. 1a, 1b, and 1c. In the first kind, shown in FIG. 1a, an outside VHF antenna (not shown) is connected to the 75 ohm terminal 4 of the television with a 75 ohm (round) coaxial cable 8 and an outside UHF antenna (not shown) is connected to the 300 ohm UHF terminals 2a and 2b of the television with a 300 ohm (flat) twin-lead cable 10. In the second kind, shown in FIG. 1b, an outside VHF antenna or an inside VHF antenna (not shown) is connected to the 300 ohm VHF terminals 6a and 6b of the television with a 300 OHM (flat) twin-lead cable 12 and an outside UHF antenna is again connected to the 300 ohm UHF terminals 2a and 2b of the television with a 300 ohm (flat) twin-lead cable 10. In the third kind, shown in FIG. 1c, an outside UHF/VHF antenna (not shown) is connected to a signal splitter 14 connected to twin-lead cables 15a and 15b to provide UHF and VHF inputs from a 75 ohm (round) cable 16 to the 300 ohm terminals 2a and 2b and 6a and 6b, respectively.
Referring now to FIGS. 2a-2c, when a VCR 250 is used in conjunction with the television 200, the UHF and VHF antenna input must be fed to the television 200 through the VCR 250. For this purpose VCR's are provided with 75 ohm VHF female RF coaxial input and output terminals 18a and 18b, 300 ohm UHF input screw terminals 20a and 20b and output screw terminals 22a and 22b, and a 300 ohm to 75 ohm VHF antenna adapter 24 (shown in FIGS. 2b and 2c).
At present, as shown in FIGS. 2a-2c, a 75 ohm RG 59 (round) coaxial connector cable 26 terminated at its ends by two male RF coaxial connectors 26a and 26b of the F-connector type is used between the VHF output terminal 18b of the VCR and the 75 ohm VHF antenna terminal 4 or the 300 ohm VHF terminals 6a and 6b of the television, while a 300 ohm (flat) twin-lead connector cable 27 is used between the UHF output terminals 22a and 22b of the VCR and the UHF antennas 2a and 2b of the television. In addition, when the VHF antenna uses a 300 ohm twin-lead cable 12, as shown in FIG. 2b, or a signal splitter 14, as shown in FIG. 2c, a 75 ohm to 300 ohm VHF matching transformer 29 having a twin-lead connector 29a must be used between the RG 59 connector cable 26 and the VHF terminals 6a and 6b of the television.
The RG 59 connector cable is an expensive and very bulky means of connecting the VCR to the television. It also creates a nest of wires behind the VCR and the television, which at best is unattractive, and at worst poses a safety hazzard.
There are also situations when it may be desirable to hook up a VCR to other video equipment, for example a computer monitor or a video amplifer. Such hook-ups require additional cables and connectors not generally provided by VCR manufacturers with the purchase of a VCR. Such cables and connectors as are available to the consumer in the electronic after-market are as expensive and bulky as the connector cables provided with the VCR, and only add to the nest of wires already running between the VCR and the television.
Also, there may be situations when it would be desirable to view the VCR output on a television or monitor other than the one to which the VCR is directlyC connected. Presently, in order to accomplish this, it is necessary to feed the VCR output signal into a multiple output signal splitter, either alone or in combination with a video amplifier, and run connector cables from the signal splitter to those televisions where the output is desired to be seen. If the second television or monitor is in another room this may require running connector cables between several rooms, which is both expensive and a safety hazzard. Also, it becomes very impractical to connect a VCR and a television which are on different floors. It is the solution of these and other problems to which the present invention is directed.